THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

bahleted

One bonus of planning (that has saved a LOT of work) is that you can come back to your project months later and pretty much pick up where you left off.

If you have some insane CBS or custom system of some sort that needs ridiculous planning (ie for some reason you need to know all your character's spells beforehand etc) then it's trivially true that planning is important. If it's a question of story though, I mean, it's good to always jot down your good ideas but I personally have no problem coming up with all the details as I go along. I loathe people who plan every single map of their game in advance.

Complexity = Planning. Or a lot of more work and time to make it.
If you are using the default systems, other persons graphics, etc... RPG Maker can be pretty easy, and the planning can be reduced. But my project have his owns scripts, graphics, and systems. Also its originall, complex and depth.

Making a RPG is a titanical thing. Making a good one... lol. I can't waste two hours making something and then throw it because i changued something. If i had planned this, i only had to changue some text lines. Just compare.

If i have actually maked everything i have written and rewriten in my desing documents(200 pag or more) i needed like 5 years....
For example, now im making it with RPGXP. But time ago it was in 2k, then 2k3 for SMP and then back again to 2k. I don't used RGPXP because of the resolution(i like 16 bit feel) and that i didn't know ruby and programing very well. But now i can use XP at 100%, i make 16-bits feel graphics and i'm mastering RGSS.

I don't wasted any time in the old version. Just some testing maps, SMP short base and a intro. All was in my imagination and the design documents. Just think if i had started making it...

Also i don't think that planning ties you or something like this. You can improvitze, is the same... only that here you are writing your ideas, but this is equal to making the game, just changue the moment where you do the things.

Planning is important. You don't have to plan everything, but having some concrete guidelines is extremely useful. Assuming you're making an RPG, I suggest planning the following things:

-How many characters there are going to be, how many can be in the battle party, and what their general role in combat is (tank, nuker, healer, buffer, mix, etc.)
-What the focus of the gameplay is (combat, exploration, puzzles, etc.) and how progression encourages that (do you use levels to increase ATK, have static attributes, use crystals found after completing puzzles to boost skills, etc.)
-What the basic stats are; algorithms aren't important, but you should know if you are using Strength, Weapon, Attack, or all three
-How the game's flow works (town-dungeon-boss-repeat, HQ-dungeon-boss-repeat, railroaded event-driven flow, non-linear TES-style flow, etc.)
-What happens in the beginning, why the hero is involved, major plot points in the middle, and the ending (re: don't think of one cool scene and base the entire game around that alone)
-How/where do you save the game
-Other niggling things, like available equipment slots, currency, food/drink/poop systems, magic elements/sub-categories, etc.

And you're off!

Not doing any of the above limits you by 1) not standardizing descriptions/names/etc ("Why does this weapon give me +2 STR/+1 DEX when I have Attack and Agility?"); 2) making some parts seem forced or nonsensical ("Wait, why did Fiona betray the king, and when?"); 3) creating holes in the flow ("Where is a healer - Padrick just left and I have to do this super dungeon without a town to save at as well?"). These are bad things - so plan your games!

Craze is tsun for RMN. "It's not like I like RMN or anything....j-j-erks!! >_<"

post=88045
Planning helps you outline what you are doing to begin with. In my planning I typically ask myself what the game is about and how it's going to be played.

I have to agree here... As it is, I had an idea for a game that I posted here on the site: http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/4386/ but have yet to go anywhere with it just because I am still getting everything together. While at work today I did peice together some more idea's on what the game will be like (yes, I know... I handle a very slow job, difficult, but slow). But the point is, I don't touch the game until I know for a fact what I am going to want to do and what I believe is actually within my reach of abilities (example shown here of what I mean: http://kitten2021.deviantart.com/art/My-RMVX-Title-Idea-1-131764665 ). If I know my game will actually make it and I believe that I will be able to get it finished, then I stop the planning and I just let the imagination go.

But you will never be able to really do that until you have actually thought about what your game is going to be; even the simplest thought about the game and what you want can and IS considered planning. :)
But that's just my personal oppenion and advise about the matter. :)

Thanks for reading,
Kitten2021

I don't plan anything. I usually have an idea of what/where I want things to go, but I generally don't map out every detail.

For anyone who's interested in the files I used to keep track of HR's development, here it is:

http://rpgmaker.net/users/105/locker/hr_planning.rar

This includes that magical spreadsheet I mentioned to Brickroad, as well as 19 text documents. It's a big info dump, but sometimes I find that looking into the developer's mind is interesting! Let me know if anyone wants me to explain anything or have a question.